The Bath Hunt Saboteurs follow huntsmen and their hounds into the countryside to observe activities.

We spoke to the longest-serving member of the Bath Hunt 'Sabs', Joe, who asked that his real identity be kept secret.

How did you get involved with the Sabs?

"I've been involved with the group for about 25 years now. Initially I joined because of the animal cruelty and the fact that they were hunting and killing animals.

"But when I got into it it also became about the conditions I believe some of the hounds are in.

"I'm the longest serving member of our group."

Isn't it against the law to hunt animals with dogs? Why do you need to protect them?

"Since the Hunting Act came in 2005, there hasn't been much change. I would say possibly there's less of a police presence at hunts since the change. Before the hunt would call the police out to keep an eye on us.

"Now on the odd occasion we call the police out now but we find they're too slow usually. Our tactics are much more effective.

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"We tend to use pretty much the same tactics as we always have, which are actually the same tactics as the huntsmen use.

"They say that they are trail hunting, but I think they very rarely actually do that.

"When we show up they go through the motions but it does seem to be for show. Quite often the dogs will ignore the scent they're laying."

So what do 'Sabs' actually do?

"We use horn calls to try and control and confuse the hounds. We're pretty much trying to stop the hounds from hunting.

"The huntsmen use whips to tell the hounds off and to control them. We also have whips, but we use ours to crack the air in front of them, we never actually hit them.

"We use citronella to mask the scents of animals while the dogs are tracking.

"First, we try to work out where the hounds are going, and if they have a scent we try to get into a line between the them and the animal. But if we do see an animal we can spray a large area where the fox, hare or deer has been to cover the scent.

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"The hounds are really scared of humans generally. On occasions we get to them and go to stroke them but they're scared of us.

"The idea is to use the horn calls to try and get the hounds to come to us. It just takes a few minutes to disrupt the hunt for a significant amount of time, which lets the animal escape.

"Some hunts will advertise where they meet, while others are more secretive. We get tip offs from people who are against the hunts quite a lot, so we generally know when they're coming and going.

"We try to get to meeting points or hunting grounds before them if we can."

(Image: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

What kind of reaction do you get from the hunts?

"Some hunts are ambivalent towards us and just got on with what they're doing. They just think that we're almost a part of the routine now. But to be honest that kind of reaction is quite rare.

"We regularly get blocked in by hunt supporters' vehicles.

"We get verbally threatened by people on the hunt all the time, and sometimes we get physically threatened too. But we try to avoid confrontation at all times. We're there for the animals and nothing else.

"Occasionally you get people who join thinking they're going to get into fights with hunters, but they don't last very long in the group.

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"But we do expect to run into trouble because of what we do, so we try to prepare for that. For example we never go out in small groups, for our own protection. We join up with other groups a lot too."

Why the masks?

"Most of the people I work with know what I do on the weekend but in the past people have had their jobs and property threatened.

"This is why we wear our masks. There are certain Facebook pages that certain hunts have that will identify you online if they can.

"We accept the masks can look intimidating, but that is not the reason we wear them. We wear them to protect ourselves.

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"Generally the public are quite supportive to be honest. But it's difficult for people in rural communities to say anything because the hunts can hold a lot of sway.

"We can take seven to eight people out because of the vehicle we use. We have around 20 members on our books, and we get a lot of support of Facebook.

"People donate money to us and members pay a small fee every time we go out to cover fuel. We need to maintain the vehicle too and by meals for everyone, so the money keeps us going.

(Image: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

"We have all kinds of people in the group, from nurses to tree surgeons. Most of them are motivated by the animal cruelty side of things.

"In the 25 years I've been a member I've probably had two or three serious attacks on myself."

The Countryside Alliance declined to comment on the comments made by the saboteur.

But its website reads: "The inception of the Hunting Act 2004 on 18th February 2005 saw traditional foxhunting and other forms of hunting with hounds become restricted. The Countryside Alliance supports all forms of legal hunting however we will continue to oppose what we believe is ultimately a bad piece of legislation."

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The objectives of the Countryside Alliance's Campaign for Hunting are:

To support all forms of legal hunting with foxhounds, beagles and all other types of hounds for the benefits it brings to individuals, the environment and the rural economy.

To work alongside former foxhunts and other packs of hounds to ensure they continue to offer a legal wildlife management service and retain the support necessary to sustain the infrastructure of hunting and the jobs that go with it.

To continue to oppose the Hunting Act 2004 and to expose it for what it is: bad for the rural economy, bad for rural communities, bad for animal welfare and a waste of police resources.

To help promote hunting to a wider audience by supporting hunts to engage with the public both face-to-face and through the use of print and social media plus other digital channels.

To liaise with the general public, hunts, politicians and the media to create a better understanding of how foxhunting and other forms of hunting with hounds fit into modern society.

To dispel any misconceptions about foxhunting and combat mistruths spread about legal hunting activities.

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